Two groups stood outside city hall with two very different views on what the statue means. "Why should they tear down our statue? This is in Waterbury. I was born here. This is Christopher Columbus. He was of Italian descent. We're proud of this statue," said Waterbury resident Tom Cardinale.

"He was an oppressor, and if you mean you want change, this will be change. You can't have a Black Lives Matter flag hanging there as a show and then have a hateful person there," said Fahd Syed, the organizer of the event and member of the Council on American Islamic Relations.